Spice and Warforged/Murakaman Districts
Ame no Murakami is divided up into seven districts. District Teichmueller The central, capital, and most heavily populated district of Murakami at 21 million residents, with Districts Arakelov and Yamashita to its north, and Districts Vakil and Serre to its south. The center of Teichmueller is Teichmueller Centre, a massive governmental and military structure, which is surrounded by the multi-layered cities of Teichmueller I, Teichmueller II, and Teichmueller III. The Teichmuller Ns are high-tech cities with large scale public transit and health infrastructure, to support the estimated 15 million people living in the metropolis. Though many are nobles, government officials, technologists, mages, generals, and wealthy businessmen, there is also a vast underclass, though this has lessened in recent years. Other cities in District Teichmeuller include Midare Setsugekka, on the border with District Arakelov, and Ten Chi Jin, on the border with District Serre. District Arakelov The northwestern district, surrounded by Bradamante and the Confederacy to the west, territory disputed with the Confederacy and the Surmar to the north, and Districts Mochizuki, Yamashita, and Teichmueller to the east. District Arakelov is bitter cold, and its northern reaches can see as many as 16 hours of night in the winter; for this reason, District Arakelov is commonly known as the "district of eternal night". This, combined with the partial vampirism that is common in the upper class there, makes the district perfect for necromancy research, and other "dark" magic and science. Most such research is carried out at Base Pie in the north, with some of the more preternatural study at the Hodge Theatre, on the border with the magical District Mochizuki. Much of the undead Murakaman army is stored in Base Meriele, just across the Closure from Bradamante, and just a heavily fortified border crossing away from the Confederate once-trading post, now-military base of Carteneau. District Grothendieck The island district, consisting of an volcanic island chain controlled by Murakami in the Rising Sea, the equatorial sea a hundred miles south of Faust and District Serre. District Grothendieck, especially its capital, the Great Isle Grothendieck, is a major tourist destination, being sunny and cheerful year-round. Smaller islands include Riemann, which is known for its beaches and wildlife, and Roch, which is known for its nightclubs. However, from the point of view of Teichmueller Centre, the true purpose of District Grothendieck is to provide a barrier between international waters and airspace and District Serre, where incoming ships can be stopped and inspected. District Mochizuki The northernmost district, surrounded by water in the north and east, District Yamashita in the south, and District Arakelov in the west. Of all Murakami, District Mochizuki has the least population, at only 200,000, and the smallest geographic size. The weather isn't quite as inhospitable as District Arakelov's, but bizarre magical and spiritual, possibly even demonic, phenomena are eternally present. Monsters roam, and even the trees and storms seem to speak. Across the waters, across the Bridge Mortals Don't Cross, are the tiefling shrines of the Scarlet Devil Hell. Another holy site, for a now long-forgotten faith, is the Tomboy-in-Love's Palace, which is believed by many to be haunted. The only true city of District Mochizuki is Mochizuki itself, on the border of District Yamashita, where all but 20,000 of the district's residents live. District Serre The southeastern, seaside district, bordered by every district except District Mochizuki, as well as Bradamante in the west and Faust in the east. District Serre is the largest district, and the second-most-heavily populated, after District Teichmueller. Because of its massive watershed, District Serre has a large agricultural and culinary industry, but most of its economy is maritime, based out of the cities of Futaba, Serre, and Nami. Its inland cities, Curri Nochi, Kaminowa, Makoto, and Sai, are hubs of art, philosophy, and science. The city of Keion, on the borders of Districts Teichmueller and Yamashita, is a business hub, where technologists process the raw materials obtained from the north. District Vakil The southwestern district, District Vakil is bordered by the Rising Sea and District Serre in the east, and Bradamante's Closure and Tyrfing in the west. District Vakil is rainy, mountainous, and lonely, with most of its population living by the sea in the cities of Vakil and Miou. There are dwarven fortresses in the northern mountains, though. Vakil and Miou are somewhat isolated from the rest of Murakami, because of the lack of good roads to District Serre; any real travel must be done by airship. Base Glenius is the hub of Murakami's missile armada, always trained on the Confederacy, and the first line of defense against a Confederate aerial attack. The border town of Kansai serves as a barrier keeping out pesky immigrants from the Tyrfing city of Zoroaster, just five miles away. District Yamashita The least densely populated district, District Yamashita consists of Yamashita itself, a forgettable suburb of Mochizuki, and hundreds of square miles of mines, lakes, and untamed wilderness. District Yamashita is surrounded by District Mochizuki in the north and east, Districts Teichmueller and Serre in the west, and Faust in the south. The resources gathered here are fed to the factories of Keion, just across the border in District Serre.